Survey shows boomers want to give back

SAN FRANCISCO, June 19 (UPI) -- Baby boomers are looking to give back to society in their later years, a study by a San Francisco group indicates.

A telephone and Internet survey by civicventures.org found that millions of people who came of age in the 1960s are either quitting their old jobs or coming out of retirement into new careers that aim to contribute to society, USA Today reported Thursday.

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MetLife Foundation and San Francisco Civic Ventures collaborated on the study that indicated that 6 percent to 9.5 percent of adults age 44 to 70 asked said they are pursuing "encore careers" giving them both income and meaning. That is 5.3 million to 8.4 million people, USA Today said. Moreover, about half of other boomers said they are interested in moving into similar encore careers, the poll results indicate.

It appears to indicate a reversal to a trend of earlier retirement during the past few decades, said Marc Freedman, chief executive officer of Civic Ventures and author of "Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life." With more than 78 million people in the baby-boom generation, the phenomena could have a tremendous social impact, he told USA Today